Anybody else ~20x ITCHIER since OHS??

[normofthenorth]

For a while after my recent BAVR/OHS, I thought I was just itchy because my chest hair was re-growing in the region of my incision. But my BACK and my FOREARMS are also loving being scratched, as well as my chest. I recently bought a back scratcher, and I'm wearing it out.

Yesterday, I asked an old University buddy, who had a BAVR about 18 months ago, if that sounded familiar. He said he bought a back-scratcher several decades ago, and used it about once a YEAR until his OHS, and has been using it about 3x/DAY since the OHS!!

Is this "enhanced itchiness" common in this group? Anybody got an explanation?

 

[Greg a]

some was excess fluid for me some was new reactions to drugs I was only on warfrin for three
months

 

[buncle]

I was just itchy on my chest where they shaved.I asked why they shaved all the hair on the chest and stomach? Answer was because they cannot sterilize hair.I had no idea.

 

[Duff Man]

beta blockers

maybe adrenal gland damage

those are my best guesses

 

[normofthenorth]

I spent 2 or 3 weeks OFF the beta-blocker, and I think I was just as itchy, so I'm not blaming metoprolol for that.

 

[Duff Man]

But you're on them now?

All I can tell you is they definitely make me itch and I'm more allergic to bees now from them. I also get hives more often, especially on a higher dose. It's just how they work.

 

[mainframe]

Norm, I was itchy after my AVR, but it was my legs that were itchy. I scratched them like crazy and being on cumadin post AVR I had many small scabs from the itching. I finally had to make the decision to stop scratching or else I'd still be doing it a year later. It finally went away.

 

[normofthenorth]

Yes, I'm back on metoprolol. Originally 12.5 mg x 2/d, then 0, and now 25 mg x 2/d.

 

[normofthenorth]

Yes, Duff Man, I'm back on metoprolol now. 25mg x2/d, twice my original dose. But I do think I itched and scratched just as much during the ~2 weeks I was beta-blocker-less.

 

[Mentu]

My family doctor told me that it is not uncommon to experience sensations in the skin some distance from the incisions after OHS. She explained that trauma to major nerves can cause the brain to misread the signals from the skin and that this fades over time. My chest became hypersensitive; my brain interpreted any sensation as a pain stimulus. A cotton Tee shirt sometimes felt like sharkskin and the new hairs growing back often felt like barbed wire. I got some relief by standing in a hot shower though it hurt for a moment before it felt better. Eventually, the brain begins to interpret signals correctly again and the wierd sensations fade.

Larry

 

[yotphix]

Wow! Mentu, I'm glad I didn't get that to deal with. I just had huge areas of numbness, which slowly receeded so that now, 18 months later I have a narrow band of it over my diaphragm. No itchiness for me. Even the hair growing back was covered by the numb.

 

[normofthenorth]

Thanks, Larry. My chest area has been hyper-sensitive, too. Clothing and shower sprays are all "on acid" compared to pre-op. Not really painful, more like super-ticklish than anything else. And my chest hairs have just finally gotten long enough to lie down and behave, instead of constantly reaching for a nearby piece of moving fabric, to grab and make me go "yee-yikes!"

This itchiness may be related, though it mostly seems distinct. And it covers lots more area -- like my joy at using a back-scratcher!?!

 

[Greg a]

This thread is making me itchy .....now where is that back scratcher I bought three years ago

 

[spartangator]

Norm,
I've had similar experience with itchiness post-surgery, especially on my legs at night. I've been told it has to do with some of the meds commons to heart patients, among other factors. Hope you are otherwise coming along wonderfully.